MediaTek introduces three new SoCs

MediaTek used the CES 2016 show to introduce three new system-on-a-chip products - the MediaTek MT8581, MT2523G and MT7697. The trio covers home entertainment, wearables and Internet of Things (Connected Home) devices, respectively.

The MediaTek MT2523G is the most interesting of the bunch and will soon be inside smartwatches and other wearable devices. The chip features dual-mode Bluetooth and GPS and is capable of running high-resolution mobile screens. The MediaTek MT2523 features a Cortex-M4 CPU and is capable of lasting more than a week on one battery charge.

MediaTek says the MT2523 will be ready for device makers in the first half of 2016

The MediaTek MT8581 will be used by home entertainment systems and supports Blu-Ray, DVD and CD playback. Users will be able to scale up to 4K from DVD as well as scale down to a non-4K screen. It features HEVC, H.264 and VP9 4K 60p video decoder for 4K (3840x2160) video content and also MPEG-2, VP8 and VC-1 2K 60p video decoder for 1080p content.

Finally, the MediaTek MT7697 focuses on a mix of low-power consumption and good connectivity including Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi. Specifications for this chip destined for IoT devices are still unknown.

The company also shared that it ships 1.5 billion SoCs per year used in mobile, tablets and TVs. Projection is that the market for SoCs will reach "tens of billions units" by 2020 due to the addition of IoT products to the mix.